Mumbai: Building on the success of the anti-piracy campaign initiated by the City of New York and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) last year, MPAA chairman and CEO Dan Glickman announced that the campaign is continuing to New York’s subways.
Beginning this week, the City and the MPAA will run a new phase of the ‘Get the Real Picture’ ad campaign on subway platforms to heighten consumer awareness about DVD piracy on New York subways and urge New York consumers to think twice before buying illegal movies. The new ads feature New York City’s 311 citizen service hotline giving people a local resource to report piracy.
"The City’s efforts to combat anti-piracy have gone a long way stamping out pirated DVDs on our city streets, and now we’re taking the campaign underground," said Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.
"New York City is home to countless iconic movies, and with the start of the summer movie season, it’s the perfect opportunity to remind New Yorkers that purchasing pirated DVDs impacts everyone negatively, whether it’s measured in lost revenue to the motion picture industry or felt in the wallets of average New Yorkers who spend their hard-earned money on poor quality—and not to mention illegal—DVDs."
According to MPAA investigators, the last phase of the campaign and the enforcement efforts in New York helped to eliminate much piracy vending on the streets. However, some of this piracy has now moved underground. According to court documents, since the beginning of 2008, the NYPD Transit Police have arrested almost 80 people and seized 8,251 pirated DVDs – much of this action in or around New York subways.
"The ‘Get the Real Picture’ campaign has really helped to raise awareness among New York consumers about the losing proposition of buying illegal DVDs and the significant costs of piracy to the City," said Glickman. "This next phase of the campaign and the Mayor’s commitment to helping fight piracy in New York are much needed during the summer when so many great movies are being released. We commend the City for supporting this important project."
